140 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



in the lavatory and kitchen of the same nature as those 

 commonly enjoyed in a city home. 



Millions of trees supplied from the Dominion Arbore- 

 tum at Indian Head and from other centers, have been 

 planted on the farms v^^here they act as wind-breaks, pro- 

 vide vrood-lots for the supply of firewood and small tim- 

 ber, give relief to the unbroken sky line, and add a note of 

 distinction and attractiveness to the home. Here, too, 

 may be mentioned the phonograph. Before its introduc- 

 tion, in many an isolated farm house, the sound of musical 

 instruments and the voice of song- were rarely or never 

 heard ; but now, with the assistance of the phonograph, 

 the spare hours may be pleasantly beguiled with reproduc- 

 tions of the best that the musical world can provide. 



The telephone of which there is a web of wires in most 

 rural communities, and the motor car which is now ex- 

 ceedingly popular with the farmer and his wife, have 

 drawn the farms together and have done much to annihilate 

 the great spaces of the prairie. In cases of childbirth or 

 of sudden illness, it is now much more easy than it was 

 to summon and obtain medical assistance. The motor 

 car permits of increased social intercourse between the 

 families of neighboring farms, and the telephone keeps 

 the farmer in touch with the world's markets. One of 

 the amenities of life made possible by the introduction 

 of the telephone is the playing of interfarm chess matches 

 during the long winter evenings. 



It is probable that in the near future wireless telegra- 

 phy will be used to connect the pioneers of outlying set- 

 tlements, survey parties, and explorers with older com- 

 munities, and that the aeroplane will find employment in 

 hastening the transportation of rural mails, of postal 

 packets, and possibly even of agriculturalists. The car- 

 riage of freight by dirigibles or other flying machines 



